Screenpresso Features

If you are dealing with some tasks that require you to take a lot of screenshots (for example: a software application engineer who is responsible to look for bugs and test software), a simple but full-featured screen capture tool is necessary.

By the term simple, I mean the entire screen capture experience has to be natural so that the user can start using it right away without much exploring. Of course, if a really simple screen capture is needed, we can just opt for the Print Screen button on the keyboard. However, for advanced tasks with screenshots, like annotation and sharing, a full-featured application is needed. There are already plenty of screen capture tools for Windows that have the criteria mentioned, but most of them doesn’t come with a friendly price tag. If you are looking for a cheap (or should I say free?) alternative, there is only one program that is simple but full featured: introducing LearnPulse’s Screenpresso.

It has the best screen capture user experience

I have been using Screenpresso for screen capturing tasks ever since it was first released in 2009, and it keeps improving. I’ve tried numerous screen capture tools, and I must say Screenpresso provides the best screen capture user experience – and all my colleagues will definitely agree on this. If you have already used to press Print Screen button for screen capturing, Screenpresso will change your user experience in no time.

Screenpresso in action.

After you have installed Screenpresso, press the Print Screen button, and you will see how Screenpresso magically assists you in screen capture. As you can see in the screenshot above (OK, I admit that I didn’t capture this screen using Screenpresso), the mouse cursor will turn into a crosshair, and moving it around the screen will automatically highlight the area that can be captured in red. It does some pretty cool edge snapping to the screen, so you can choose to capture part of a window, or the entire window, or even the whole screen. Notice the zoom lens at the right bottom of the screen? It is really useful if you require a pixel-perfect screen capture, and it tells you the pixel size that’s highlighted. Besides that, Screenpresso does a very good job of capturing the window with clean Aero glass, but of course you can easily disable this feature in the settings. Want to capture a long webpage into a single image? No problem, thanks to the smart stitching mechanism in Screenpresso.

Which is better? The left or the right?

All of these features seem pretty simple, but a combination of them create an unrivaled user experience, in a free product. But there’s more …

It has a Powerful Built-in Editor

Applying annotation to the screenshots is both fun and efficient in Screenpresso. It has a very simple but powerful editor which allows you to do tons of editing, such as commenting, adding arrows etc. and you can even blur a region easily. One of the best features in the Screenpresso editor is their Add Image function. The developers have done a great job by providing users useful and ready-to-use images (check both the screenshots above for examples.) All are done in Screenpresso’s built-in editor, without charging a single cent. Impressive?

Capture Sharing is Easier than Ever

Tons of sharing option. Screen captured with branding.

Besides providing great user experience and powerful editor, LearnPulse has also attempted to make sharing of screenshots easier. They have included numerous options for you to share screenshots easily; as you can see in the screenshot above. If you are not keen on using any services provided, you can just simply drag-and-drop the screenshots from the history to email or file-explorer for more sharing options. If you notice the screenshot above, there is some branding done on the screenshot, but this will only apply when you are using certain sharing options provided in Screenpresso, though I don’t find it intrusive at all in the screenshot. For the features that has the branding enabled, check their features list of Screenpresso.

It is a Portable Application

This great tool is not only available for your personal computer; it can be used as a portable application on a public computer as well. On the first run of the Screenpresso installer which can be found here, it will allow you to run it directly without installation, or install on the computer if you wish. This can provide high flexibility and the user is able to run it virtually in any Windows-based computers – another great user experience.

Screenpresso allows you to run as portable app, or install on your computer.

And … it has good customer support

I believe a good program without good support from the developer will not be success–most of the time. Learnpulse is always ready to listen to the users’ comments, complaints and suggestions, and they can be reached easily via their official Twitter account. I once suggested them to add a curvy line/arrow tools in their editor (after my colleague asked me about it) and they responded that they will add my suggestion to their ‘to do’ list – it’s pretty sweet if you ask me.

With the latest release in 2011 (version 1.2.1.4 at the time of writing), LearnPulse has looked into video capturing in Screenpresso. Although the free version can only capture a tiny 15 seconds video with branding. There is a Screenpresso Pro version which costs $28 (at time of writing) that removes all the brandings and has full length video capture. However, since it is a new feature, there aren’t any extra functions for the captured video besides sharing; however, I believe LearnPulse is working hard to improve Screenpresso to become the best screen and video capture tool for Windows.

If you looking for a great screen capture tool at no cost, look no further, try Screenpresso and you will be amazed!